The Arab-Israeli conflict goes far beyond the wars waged in the Middle East. There is a war of narratives revolving around the two defining traumas of the conflict: the Holocaust and the Nakba. Middle East expert Gilbert Achcar critically assesses Arab attitudes to the Holocaust, which he argues are closely related to the dynamics of the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1948. From Hitler's rise to power up to the present day, he identifies a wide range of reactions among the Arab world's four main idealogical movements: pro-Western liberalism, pan-Arab nationalism, Islamic fundamentalism and Marxism. Based on a thorough examination of sources in several languages, including Arabic, English, French and German, "The Arabs and the Holocaust" is a major contribution to the discourse of the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is also groundbreaking in its effort to bridge the gap between the conflicting narratives and to promote mutual understanding.

Author Biography

Gilbert Achcar is Professor of Development Studies and International Relations at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. His previous books have been translated into more than fifteen languages. Author location London, UK Also by the same author The Clash of Barbarisms: The Making of the New World Disorder (2nd ed., Saqi, 2006) The 33-Day War: Israel's War on Hezbollah in Lebanon and its Consequences (Saqi, 2007)